Mets’ Matt Harvey Is Being Patient About His Velocity

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Matt Harvey pitching against the Houston Astros last week. Harvey had surgery in July for thoracic outlet syndrome and the velocity on his fastball has been lower this spring.CreditSteve Mitchell/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

JUPITER, Fla. — Matt Harvey will most likely make three more starts before spring training is over, giving him more time to fully put behind him the thoracic outlet syndrome that undermined his 2016 season and required surgery last July.

So what Harvey has shown in his three starts this spring should be evaluated with that in mind. Two of the starts have not looked very good in the box score. As for his pitches, his fastball, so far, is slower than in the past, but at the same time he has displayed some encouraging off-speed pitches.

Even though the thoracic outlet syndrome he had last season — a condition in which nerves or blood vessels are compressed between bones in the neck and upper torso — undermined his command and endurance, his fastball still averaged 94.5 miles per hour, according to FanGraphs.com. The year before, his first back from Tommy John surgery, Harvey averaged a career-high 95.9 m.p.h.

Through three starts this spring, Harvey’s fastball has generally hovered around 92 to 93 m.p.h., including his outing against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, in which he allowed five hits and four runs, only two of them earned, over three and a third innings.

Harvey has cautioned prudence all spring, saying that velocity will come with time. But after Wednesday’s start, he noted that Tommy John surgery, the elbow operation that Harvey underwent in 2013, has become so widespread that pitchers who undergo it know they have a chance to return to just about who they were before they were hurt. There is evidence for them to feel that way.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is different. The surgery to address it has far less of a track record in baseball, which Harvey noted. That, in turn, has seemed to make him sober-minded about his latest comeback.

“With this, I’m not looking to throw 100 miles per hour again or 97 even,” he said. “My job is to get people out no matter what I’m throwing.”

Asked if he was comfortable pitching with his current arsenal if his former velocity does not return at a consistent level, Harvey said, “Yeah, you have to.”

He added: “It is what it is. It’s going to be there or it’s not. I have to go out and pitch, and today I feel really confident going into my next outing and going forward.”

Mets Manager Terry Collins said he was unconcerned about Harvey’s velocity.

“I’m worried about command,” he said. “If his command is good, he can pitch.”

Harvey’s command was inconsistent Wednesday, but he said he felt encouraged about certain aspects of his pitching, including his off-speed pitches, which the Mets had asked him to focus on.

While Harvey worked on his pitching, Tim Tebow played what Collins said was his final game for now in major league camp. In his fifth game this spring, Tebow went 2 for 3 and made a diving catch at the warning track in right field of a ball that moved in the wind.

“I felt like I’m improving,” he said.

Tebow, 3 for 14 over all, was expected to return to minor league camp Thursday.